Unified Practice

One of the reasons I became an acupuncturist is because I had positive results after seeking acupuncture treatment for a head injury that had resulted in chronic debilitating neck pain. I was so amazed by the medicine that I felt compelled to learn everything I could about it. It was the beginning of a journey for me, with my main mission becoming helping other people reap the benefits of TCM. Of course, when I began my education I had no idea how difficult it would be to convince others of the legitimacy of our field and the potential it brings for good health. Every day, I make positive connections with people as they receive acupuncture and Chinese herbs and begin to feel better. I hope that my patients will go back to their friends and family and tell them about their treatments and results because I want their referrals and I want more and more people to experience all that TCM has to offer. But this is not enough. Acupuncture remains an enigma in our society, with skepticism dominating western medicine and therefore influencing patient after patient in their treatments and their health outcomes.

It can feel overwhelming, this idea that we need to change attitudes and reduce the incredulity surrounding our medicine, but the future of our profession depends on it. When I read the results of a recent study on EHR (Electronic Health Records) use amongst acupuncturists and the lack of communication between them, the doctors and insurance companies… it hit me- the most important thing we can do to prove the efficacy of our treatments is with data. The simplest way to do this is through Acupuncture EHRs.

Western doctors are skeptical of our medicine because they don’t understand how it works, there aren’t large bodies of research that mimic western medical outcomes, and they aren’t talking to their patients about it. When they search the available databases, not enough comes up to make them feel confident in making that referral. But if we had wide adoption of EHRs, the body of evidence would not only be huge but undeniable. That recent study I mentioned above found that the 32% of patients at Kaiser Permanente were utilizing acupuncture to help manage their health problems, but only 1/3rd of them were communicating with their doctors about their treatments and results (Elder, et. al 2015). Without EHRs and patients underreporting their care, we can reasonably assume that these doctors are unaware of the use and efficacy of acupuncture amongst their patients. If Acupuncture EHRs were being used by TCM practitioners, the evidence of positive treatment outcomes would be available and overwhelming.

Patients and their physicians want to know about acupuncture. They want to know if it works and whether or not it is a reasonable treatment option for them. We know the answer to this, but we need each of our patient interactions to contribute to the evidence that is available to all medical professionals doing research. EHRs are the most efficient way to do this- hands down. If our goal is to have a truly integrated medicine, where physicians feel comfortable referring to us and insurance companies provide coverage for our services, then our data needs to be contributed through EHR systems so the body of evidence can grow and analysis can prove what all of us already know… acupuncture works. Failure to adopt EHRs will continue to limit us in our reach for better health outcomes and our quest for occupational legitimacy.

Guest blog post by Thomas Meade.